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WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. - An online
petition
supporting a Port Chester father who is facing deportation has garnered nearly 250 signatures as his family attempts to keep him stateside.

The Hudson Valley Community Coalition is circulating the
petition
on behalf of Aroldo Soto-Contreras, who was detained last month during a routine check with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is now facing deportation

According to the petition, Soto-Contreras came to America from Guatemala in 1989, when he fled the war-torn country. He was arrested for driving while intoxicated three times during his early years in the country, though he “has since reformed himself, married and is now the father of three children.”

Soto-Contreras has worked at a Stamford, Conn. pizza place for nearly two decades and he has been a resident at the same house in Port Chester for several years. He is currently being held at the Bergen County Homeland Detention Center in New Jersey.

In just two days, the
petition
received 240 signatures from well-wishers supporting Soto-Contreras. His family has also been in contact with New York Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office regarding his deportation, according to a lohud
report
.

“My father is a crucial and needed part of our family unit. He is not only the most devoted and loyal father a family could ever hope to claim as their own, he is also the hardest working man I have ever known,” his son, Ronald Fernando Contreras said.

“He leads by example in our household by upholding values and enforcing strong character in me and my two younger brothers. My entire life, he has put the needs of us - his family - first. He instead of worrying about himself, he always asks first about our needs and what he can do to help us in any way possible.”